Bone (comics)
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Bone was originally serialized in an independently, irregularly published comic book series for 55 issues, from 1991 to 2004, notable as one of the longest-running self-published comic book series by a single writer/artist.
Bone was drawn and written by Jeff Smith. Smith's black-and-white drawings are inspired by animated cartoons and comic strips, a notable influence being Walt Kelly's Pogo. However, the story contains both light-hearted comedy and dark, epic fantasy, drawing inspiration from J. R. R. Tolkien and others. Different characters are drawn in widely different styles, reflecting Bone's diversity of tone.
Bone has received numerous awards, among them nine Eisner Awards and nine Harvey Awards.
The comic ended with its 55th issue, dated June 2004. The back cover has, in place of the usual comic panel, a black and white photo of Smith in his studio drawing the last page on May 10.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The three Bone cousins - the avaricious Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone, the goofy, cigar-smoking Smiley Bone, and the everyman character Fone Bone - are run out of their hometown of Boneville after Phoney decides to run for mayor with disastrous results. An example of his resulting unpopularity was given by Smiley, saying that the mayor declared a school holiday just so all the schoolchildren could come and throw rocks at Phoney. After crossing a desert and ending up in a mysterious valley, the cousins are separated, and must individually make their way across a fantasy landscape pursued by locusts and rat creatures before meeting up again. At this time, they are taken in by a mysterious girl named Thorn and her even more enigmatic grandmother. As they stay longer in the valley they encounter humans and other creatures who are threatened by a dark lord, the Lord of the Locusts. Fone Bone is drawn into the events around him and finds himself on a hero's journey to help save the world.
[edit] Collections
Originally 55 comics, Bone has been collected into the following volumes.
[edit] Individual volumes
- Out from Boneville (originally released as The Complete Bone Adventures volume 1)
- The Great Cow Race
- Eyes of the Storm
- The Dragonslayer
- Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border
- Old Man's Cave
- Ghost Circles
- Treasure Hunters
- Crown of Horns
- Bone: One Volume Edition (ISBN 1-888963-14-X) - contains all of the above; 1300 pages. Listed in Time Magazine's "Best Comix of 2004".
[edit] Spin-offs
Both prequels to the main storyline, but can be read without spoiling too much about the main story.
- Rose (with Charles Vess)
- Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails: The Adventures of Big Johnson Bone, Frontier Hero (with Tom Sniegoski and Stan Sakai)
[edit] Colorized editions
In 2004 Scholastic Press began reissuing the individual volumes in full color (with coloring by Steve Hamaker). Both hardcover and softcover editions of each volume are being released simultaneously (at the time of writing not all volumes have been colorized and re-released).
[edit] One Volume Edition
The special 1300 page, one volume edition was released originally for $40 (USD) through Jeff Smith's Cartoon Books imprint in a paperback volume. This special print of the entire adventure was to celebrate the recent end of the series and the commencement of every collection in the series being reprinted in color through Scholastic Press. This edition has recently returned to print.
In addition to the one volume paperback, a limited edition hardcover print of the one volume book was issued with each hardcover copy signed and numbered by Jeff Smith. This limited edition pressing of the book originally sold for around $150 (USD).
[edit] Cast of characters
- Fone Bone - The hero of the series. He is from a town called Boneville, but was run out together with his thievious cousin, Phoney Bone. He has a love of Moby Dick and an unspoken crush on Thorn Harvestar, with whom he was smitten upon their first meeting.
- Smiley Bone - The not-so-bright one of the group. Typified by his guitar and his cigar, he is typically used by Phoney Bone to help him along with his schemes, despite his good nature.
- Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone - The schemer of the three cousins, he has engineered every single scam throughout the series, whether it be rigging the Great Cow Race or promoting himself as a dragon slayer. Called "The One That Bears The Star" (due to the star on his black t-shirt) by The Hooded One.
- Thorn Harvestar - Fone's crush. Seemingly a simple farm girl, it is soon revealed that she is heir to the throne of the monarchy.
- Gran'ma Ben - Thorn's grandmother, a tough-as-nails farmer who wins the Great Cow Race every year. Her past is riddled with dark secrets.
- Lucius Down - The foil for almost all of Phoney Bone's schemes. He runs the Barrelhaven Tavern and has a history with Gran'ma Ben.
- Ted - A helpful insect that pops up from time to time. Ted is the first creature Fone Bone encounters when he enters the valley, and harbors a strange link to the Red Dragon.
- The Great Red Dragon - Often Fone's last-minute savior, the Red Dragon appears when he is most needed. Gran'ma Ben does not trust him, regardless of how many times he has saved her or her friends from harm.
- The Lord of the Locusts - The unseen dark lord who orchestrates much of the saga's villainy.He is an evil, formless "nightmare" trapped inside a mountain, and appears in the form of a locust swarm to his chief henchman who is simply known as "The Hooded One".
- The Hooded One - Servant of the Lord of the Locusts and superior to Kingdok. Wears a hood similar to the Veni Yan warriors, implying that it may be a rogue "stickeater" itself, and is armed with a scythe. Obsessed with capturing Phoney Bone.
- Kingdok - A giant rat creature, ruler of the horde of rat creatures and lackey of the Lord of the Locusts. Although he is egomaniacal and cruel, he is prone to superstition and easily manipulated by The Hooded One. He carries a golden spiked club around with him, until Thorn cuts his arm off.
- Mim - The original queen of the dragons, was possessed by the Lord of the Locusts, and turned to stone by the other dragons. Her awakening will be the end of the world.
- The Possum Kids - Three young possums with a thirst for adventure. They have a knack for getting into trouble, but they are resourceful and cunning.
- Miz Possum - A caring, motherly figure to everyone in the valley. Mother to the three possum kids.
- Roque Ja - A huge, dangerous puma who views himself as neutral in the conflict between the humans and the Lord of the Locusts, although he is willing to work for whoever will leave him alone. Derisively nicknamed 'Rock Jaw' by Smiley Bone.
- Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures - Two among the rat creature hordes who have a particular interest in devouring the Bone cousins, and Fone Bone in particular. Fone Bone is the one who dubs them the Rat Creatures, and this pair in particular as the "Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures." Named after some incidents where one, or both, clearly emphasise their title, they in turn call fone bone "Small Mammal." Primarily comic relief, the two are constantly arguing over what to do with the Bones should they capture them; one wants to use the Bones in a quiche, while the other insists that 'dainty pastry foods' are 'unfit for monsters,'and that they should eat them raw.
- Bartleby - A baby rat creature found by Fone Bone and adopted as a pet by Smiley Bone. Named for the title character in the short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville.
- The Veni Yan - A mysterious clan of hooded warriors. Distrusted by the townsfolk (who came up with the derogatory term "stickeater") but trusted by Lucius.
- Jonathan Oaks - The small, often outspoken, villager who works for Lucius at the Barrelhaven. Though he was saved from an ambush from the rat creatures in Old Man's Cave, it is hinted that he dies in the Veni Yan infirmiry.
- Wendell- One of the Lucius' tough "barroom boys." Outspoken in the early issues (he and Euclid have more than once threatened to trounce Phoney Bone) he became more introverted once the reality of the war presented itself.
- Euclid - Along with Jonathan and Wendell, one of the "barroom boys". In personality, one way to describe him is that he is even more violent than Wendell.
- Rory - A third barroom boy. Is almost always present near Wendell, Euclid, and Jonathan, but rarely speaks. None of his comments give much of a hint to a personality.
[edit] Notes
Although essentially a high fantasy, Bone often displays great comic humor, particularly the Great Cow Race in issue #10, and Phoney's ongoing efforts to become rich off the credulous valley residents. The series tended to become more serious and adventurous as it went on, and the humor became a lesser element in the story.
The Bone characters have been compared to those of Walt Kelly's Pogo, both in appearance and in characterization. However, their respective personalities also have other precedents. Phoney Bone's personality resembles Carl Barks' Scrooge McDuck, Fone Bone's personality bears some similarities to J.R.R. Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins, and Smiley Bone's personality is akin to Ed Norton from The Honeymooners. Gran'ma Ben bears an unmistakable similarity to Popeye, and Thorn shares a 'hidden king' history with characters like Tolkien's Aragorn. The Stupid Rat Creatures also seem to have origins in Tolkien with their constant quarreling over how to cook any of their prey like the trolls from The Hobbit.
Most of the series was self-published by Smith under his Cartoon Books imprint, but for a short time was published by Image Comics. During this time, the first 20 issues were reprinted by Image with new covers. These reprints are identifiable by having reproductions of the original covers on the back. The Cartoon Books printings have black back covers, inset with a single panel reprinted from inside. First printings can be distinguished from later printings by changes in the color of the logo on the front cover. Image:JeffSmithLastBone.JPG The story has been collected into a set of nine black-and-white trade paperbacks; some of the artwork, especially in critical exposition scenes, was revised and expanded for these editions. The 1300-page story has also been published in a single paperback volume, from Cartoon Books.
Issues from the Out From Boneville collection were also reprinted in the digest-sized children's magazine Disney Adventures, first in 1994 and later in 1997 through 1998. The issues usually consisted of 7-9 pages a month and were coloured and censored to remove smoking and drinking references.
As of 2004, Cartoon Books' Steve Hamaker is coloring the entire series for new color editions of the nine trade paperbacks, to be published by the Graphix imprint of Scholastic Press.
In addition to the regular series, there have been a pair of spin-off limited series: Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails, about an earlier visitor from Boneville to the valley, and Rose, about Thorn's grandmother in her youth.
One very unusual thing about the series is Boneville itself. Even though the three Bone cousins are from Boneville, and it is frequently referred to as the place where they wish to return, the village itself is never shown or depicted in the Bone comics.
In an interview on Attack of the Show, Jeff Smith revealed that he drew the last page very early on.
[edit] Other media
[edit] Animated film
In the 1990s, an attempt to produce a film of Bone through Nickelodeon Films was unsuccessful. According to Smith, Nickelodeon saw the story strictly as children's entertainment, and insisted that the Bone characters be voiced by child actors and that the film had to include pop songs by the likes of Britney Spears [1]and N'Sync.
[edit] Video games
On February 22 2005, video game company Telltale Games announced that they will be developing adventure games based on the comic using episodic format. The first episode, Bone: Out from Boneville, was released on September 15 2005, and the second, The Great Cow Race, on April 12, 2006. Both are available in downloaded or boxed form on Telltale's website.
On October 13 2006, video game company Vanbrio Entertainment announced the release of a Macintosh version of Bone Act 1: Out of Boneville.
[edit] See also
| Comics: | Out from Boneville | The Great Cow Race | Eyes of the Storm | The Dragonslayer | Rock Jaw | Old Man's Cave | Ghost Circles | Treasure Hunters | Crown of Horns |
|---|---|
| Spin-offs: | Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails | Rose |
| Games: | Out from Boneville | The Great Cow Race |
